From Friday's decision by Judge Gregory Woods (S.D.N.Y.) in Maheu v. Twitter, Inc.:
One distinguishing facet of the American legal system is its commitment to public access to the trial process. This legacy of "open justice" is as old as America itself. Respondents, Twitter, Inc. and X Corp., have asked that the Court seal an arbitral award because it was the product of a confidential arbitration proceeding. That fact alone does not overcome the presumption of public access to the award safeguarded by the First Amendment ….
On January 28, 2025, Petitioner Jean-Phillippe Maheu filed a petition to confirm an arbitral award issued in his favor [against Twitter] ….
The question is whether the arbitral award that Maheu (who had apparently been VP, Americas at Twitter) was trying to enforce could remain sealed; no, said the court:
